Straitor V. Clark

Straitor V. Clark was born at his paternal grandparents, Fred and Olive (Thompson) Clark’s house at the foot of Inyan Kara Mountain, near Sundance. Straitor was the oldest of nine children. Straitor was only able to obtain a 4th grade education, needing to work as a ranch hand to help support his parents and siblings. When he was ten, he helped trail pigs to the railroad loading grounds at Aladdin and two years later he helped Fred Henderson buy, round up, and trail horses to the Big Horn Mountains where they were sold to dude ranches. He worked for various neighbors always staying in the households where he was employed while he learned the trade of farming and ranching. He was in the saddle on every ranch he worked on and greatly enjoyed working with horses. After his marriage to Elaine Sorensen, they settled on the Banks Ranch where they lived for 31 years, first as ranch hands, later as managers, and beginning in 1954 leased the land and became the sole owners of the livestock and equipment. They raised five children, who were always involved in all aspects of ranching growing up. Many of the highlights of Straitor’s life were working with horses and being a cowboy. He learned to break and ride horses at a very young age and had a true gift with a team of horses, breaking many to drive and pull a sleigh or wagon. He was a 4-H leader for more than 20 years.